Medical Interpreting Services
Cultural News
Volume 13, Issue 9
September 2015
Americans with
Disabilities Act, Law
“ADA, State and Federal Guidelines Concerning Law Enforcement as pertaining to People who are Deaf
or Hard of Hearing”
As set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, with additional amendments made in 2008,
the definition of a disabled individual has three major conditions:
Physical or mental impairment that severely inhibits a life activity.
•
•
•
Physical or mental impairment that severely
inhibits a life activity
A documented or record of said impairment
Classified as having an impairment by an
acknowledgeable authority
Needless to say, hard of hearing or deaf individuals -- with respect to the individuals, are lawfully
considered to have a disability. As such, ADA standards mandate additional effort from law enforcement
to safeguard constitutional rights when dealing with deaf or hard of hearing individuals. While there has
been numerous articles produced by the ADA, this paper will analyze an article released in January
2006 titled, “Communicating with People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing” and correlated federal and
state litigation relevant to standard police procedure concerning provisions of the ADA.
The focal point of this article highlights what law enforcement agencies are mandated or lawfully
compelled to do when dealing with a deaf or hard of hearing suspect. As stated in the article, law
enforcement agencies must provide reasonable accommodation for effective communication when in a
situation that safely allows for it. This includes provisions of hearing aids and interpreters if requested by
the case in point. Officers in Victoria County, Texas were found to be criminally liable as per violation of
Sec. 12132 and Sec. 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act- respectively.
That State Court found officers to have intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff, whom was
stopped in a traffic situation and given multiple sobriety tests. Now, correlating with the ADA’s guidelines
for communicating with deaf and hard of hearing, the officers failed to acknowledge the suspects
disability and also failed to provide reasonable accommodations for effective communication. Instead,
the officer treated the suspect as an individual without the hearing disability, using a series of standard
sobriety tests strictly constructed for non-hearing disabled individuals.
A federal appeals court of an unknown district, later upheld this decision and solidified the jurisprudence
of mandated accommodations for communicating with deaf and hard of hearing. In review of the ADA’s
guidelines for communication, law enforcement are given a series of hypothetical situations constructed
to help officers determine when an interpreter or accommodation is needed. In traffic cases, reasonable
suspicion allows for officers to stop any vehicle. If the driver or concerning individual(s) in the vehicle are
deaf or hard of hearing, the officer can take out a note/pen and convey his words through text.
For exigent situations such as responding to a domestic violence call, if officers are faced with violent or
any felonious and threatening elements, officers have the right to forgo ADA protocol and act according
to standard police procedures. In Tucker V Tennessee, the State court found the petitioners -- whom are
deaf, to have no right to lawsuit against officers who arrested them without first providing communication
aids and services. The State Court ruled that because of the severity of the situation- responding to
potential violence, and also actual violence, officers had the right to forgo ADA protocol.
The totality of the ADA strives to inhibit the potential for discrimination against Americans with disabilities.
The U.S. Department of Justice has provided guidelines for effective communication between law
enforcement officers and deaf or hard of hearing individuals.
Written by: By Kevin B. Young
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/law-and-the-deaf.htm
SEPTEMBER 2015 CALENDAR
National Translators/Interpreters Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
1- Ecclesiastical year begins (Orthodox Christian)
1-7- National Nutrition Week (UNICEF-India)
5- Krishna Janmashtami (Hindu)
7- Labor Day (US)
8- Nativity of Mary (Christian)
9- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Day
10- Suicide Prevention Day (World)
11- Patriot Day (US)
12- Farmers’ Consumer Awareness Day
13-19- Child Passenger Safety Week (US)
14-15- Rosh Hashanah (Jewish)
17- Constitution Day (US)
18- Paryushana Parva (Jain)
22- Waqf al Arafa - Hajj (Islam)
23-26- Eid al Adha - Sacrifice Day (Islam)
23-30- International Interpreters and Translators Week
27- Meskel (Ethiopian Orthodox Christian)
29- Michael and All Angels (Christian)
Cultural News • September 2015
New Interpreter Profile: Emily Price
Emily is the new staff member with the Spanish medical interpreting team at UCDHS. She was born
in Chico and grew up in Placerville. Emily’s interest in the Spanish language started when she took
community college classes in her teen years. She volunteered to travel to Peru with a Christian
medical mission, and started utilizing her knowledge of Spanish to assist the medical team & local
patients.
Emily received her EMT certification and AA degree at 18. She returned to Huaraz, Peru by
invitation, and this was her first experience of a complete foreign language immersion. Emily took
classes at the local University to improve her knowledge of Spanish, and taught English to the local
students in return.
During her studies at CSU, Sacramento, Emily majored in Spanish & spent a year in Monterrey,
Mexico though an exchange program. Emily’s hard work on language skills allowed her to test into
the mainstream Spanish classes. Upon her return to Sacramento, Emily came back to EMT work
and also started working as an over-the-phone interpreter for a national company. She learned
many new regionalisms on the job, while getting her BA degree in Spanish and a minor in TESOL
(Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages).
Emily still works as an EMT and as a free-lance Spanish interpreter, and was hired into the part-time position at UCDHS in April of 2015. Emily shared her
first impressions of UC Davis Medical Center: “The team spirit really shines here, everyone works as an equal team member. The atmosphere has been
very positive and welcoming. As an interpreter, I see a little bit of everyone’s day, and I am honored to be a part of this great institution. Working here means
learning new things every day and facing new challenges, which keeps me busy and energized.”
Welcome aboard, Emily! We are happy to have you as a part of the Medical Interpreting team!
New Staff Interpreter Profile: Isaac Rico
Isaac joined the MIS Spanish-language interpreting team in June of 2015. He was
born in Morelia, Mich. and raised in a small village in Guanajuato , Mexico. He learned
some English at home from his mother, which came in handy when his family moved
to Sacramento. Isaac was in 10th grade, and put a lot of effort into studying English &
perfecting it in high school and college. He graduated from Luther Burbank High school and
took some college courses.
His interest in medical interpreting appeared when he observed several interpreters
assisting his mother, and noticed that some of them did not fully understand Spanish and
this lack of understanding became an obstacle. Isaac thought that he was in a perfect
position to give back to the community through becoming an interpreter and being blessed
with the knowledge of both languages & cultures. He continued the in-depth study of both
English and Spanish in college, took a medical terminology course, and started working as
a free-lance interpreter in 2007.
He received on the job training through one of the local agencies, and is now looking to
pursue national certification in medical interpreting. Since starting at UCDHS in June of
2015, Isaac has noticed the respect staff interpreters receive from providers and patients.
He is touched by the caring attitude of providers and of being respected as a part of the medical team.
He has also noticed that the quality of interpreting is very high at UCDHS. Isaac is proud to have become a part of our professional team, and
he is glad he can also contribute by providing services in Portuguese, as well as Spanish. Isaac learned Portuguese on his own by reading
Portuguese literature, with a group of friends and help from the local Portuguese & Brazilian community.
Welcome aboard, Isaac! We are happy to have you as a part of the Medical Interpreting team!
This issue of Cultural News was produced by UC Davis Medical Interpreting Department editorial team. Questions? Comments?
Please call Medical Interpreting Services at 916/734-2321 or e-mail malithone.thongsonlone@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu